Gas quencher-scrubber and water seal apparatus for hot particle-laden gas sources

ABSTRACT

In a twin foundry furnace cupola arrangement, as an exemplary environment, a cylindrical, vertically oriented, quencher having generally a conical floor is divided into two sections by a diametrical baffle upstanding from the floor to a point about half the height of the quencher and to the bottom of a horizontal gas outlet located in the side of the quencher, each section formed by the diametrical baffle having an inlet for gases from its associated cupola and being segmented by a vertical baffle that extends downwardly therein to a point adjacent to and spaced from the floor and below the top of the diametrical baffle. Each section has overhead spray nozzles to spray water down onto the baffles and onto the gases and each section has its own floor drain. With one cupola shut down, the quencher section therefor has its drain closed and it is filled with water up to the level of the gas outlet and above the bottom of the downwardly extending baffle so as to seal off the gas passage to such cupola. Hot particle-laden gases from the functioning cupola enter its quencher section to be saturated with water, drawn down under the baffle and through the restrictive passage between the baffle and the floor, and then drawn upwardly in turbulence to the gas outlet so that the temperature of the gas is lowered and larger particles are separated out therefrom to be carried with the spray water out the open floor drain. The scrubbed and cooled gases pass from the quencher through the outlet via conduit means to, preferrably, a fine particle scrubber, to a mist eliminator and, thence out a chimney under the draft of a fan. The particleladen water flows to a separation tank and then the water is recirculated.

United States Patent 1 Allen, Jr.

[ Nov. 20, 1973 GAS QUENCHER-SCRUBBER AND WATER SEAL APPARATUS FOR HOTPARTlCLE-LADEN GAS SOURCES 75 Inventor: Walter R. Allen, Jr., Ringoes,NJ.

[73] Assignee: Research-Cottrell, Inc., Bridgewater Township, NJ.

[22 Filed: June 26, 1972 21 App1.No.: 266,257

[52] U.S. Cl 266/15, 55/220, 55/228,

55/257, 55/355, 55/419, 261/17, 261/115 [51] Int. Cl B01d 47/06 [58]Field of Search 55/93-95, 72, 220, 228,

55/244, 255, 256, 257, 55/355, 419; 261/119, 17, l15118, DIG. 9; 266/15,24, 31

Primary ExaminerBernard Nozick Attorneyl-larold L. Stowell et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT In a twin foundry furnace cupola arrangement, as anexemplary environment, a cylindrical, vertically oriented, quencherhaving generally a conical floor is divided into two sections by adiametrical baffle upstanding from the floor to a point about half theheight of the quencher and to the bottom of a horizontal gas outletlocated in the side of the quencher, each section formed by thediametrical baffle having an inlet for gases from its associated cupolaand being segmented by a vertical baffle that extends downwardly thereinto a point adjacent to and spaced from the floor and below the top ofthe diametrical baffle. Each section has overhead spray nozzles to spraywater down onto the baffles and onto the gases and each section has itsown floor drain.

With one cupola shut down, the quencher section therefor has its drainclosed and it is filled with water up to the level of the gas outlet andabove the bottom of the downwardly extending baffle so as to seal offthe gas passage to such cupola. Hot particle-laden gases from thefunctioning cupola enter its quencher section to be saturated withwater, drawn down under the bafile and through the restrictive passagebetween the bafi'le and the floor, and then drawn upwardly in turbulenceto the gas outlet so that the temperature of the gas is lowered andlarger particles are separated out therefrom to be carried with thespray water out the open floor drain. The scrubbed and cooled gases passfrom the quencher through the outlet via conduit means to, preferrably,a fine particle scrubber, to a mist eliminator and, thence out a chimneyunder the draft of a fan. The particle-laden water flows to a separationtank and then the water is recirculated.

7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures GAS QUENCHER-SCRUBBER AND WATER SEALAPPARATUS FOR HOT PARTICLE-LADEN GAS SOURCES BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generallyappertains to new and novel improvements in systems and apparatus forthe scrubbing of hot, particle-laden gases, which result from variousindustrial processes, and is especially directed to a new and novelquench and scrubber system and apparatus for quenching and scrubbingwith liquid hot particle-laden gases, such as those discharged from afoundry furnace cupola.

2. Description of the Prior Art There are many and varied prior artdisclosures relating to apparatus and methods for quenching or scrubbinga hot gas stream that is emitted from a furnace or other gas source byspraying the gas stream with water or similar liquid, while, at the sametime, affecting in some way the flow direction or speed of the gasstream. In such way, the temperature of the gases is lowered and coarsesolids are separated to some extent from the cooled gases.

Some prior art devices are simple in structure and are in the nature ofmechanical collectors, while others are greatly refined and are in thenature of high energy scrubbers. None of the prior art devices arecapable of receiving hot, particle-laden gases from a plurality ofsources and then capable of closing off one source for reconditioning ofthe furnace for example, while the source of gases is open and the gasestreated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, a gasquencher and scrubbing apparatus is provided for use in operativeassociation with a plurality of furnace cupolas or other sources of hot,particle-laden gases.

Such apparatus essentially comprises a closed container or quencher thatis connected to the tops of two standard vertical furnace cupolas byseparate conduit means. The quencher is provided with generally a center vertical baffle which extends from the bottom of the quencher to apoint about half the height of the quencher and to the bottom edge of agas outlet opening dividing the quencher generally into two sections.Each section has liquid spraying devices and a bottom drain to lower thetemperature of the discharge gases from the foundry furnace cupola andseparates larger particles out of the gas streams.

When the hot gases enter either of the quencher sections they passdownwardly under a baffle which extends from the top of the quencher toa point adjacent the bottom and below the top edge of the center baffle.The gas then turns upwardly and exits through the gas outlet opening.

The cooled and scrubbed gases then pass through a conduit, preferrably,to a scrubber, such as a flooded disc scrubber, to a mist eliminatorand, thence, through a conduit out a chimney under the draft of a fanmeans.

The quencher has a three-fold purpose, namely, I) to quench or lower thetemperature of the very hot discharge gases from a plurality of cupolas;(2) to separate a large portion of the particles from the gas stream;and (3) to provide a water seal damper to either one of two gas sourcesso that one cupola can operate while another is shut down.

The quencher is constructed so that a water seal closes off the gaspassageway to the non-operating cupola by raising the water level abovethe bottom of the downwardly directed baffle while another portion ofthe quencher receives gases from the operating cupola. The water sealprevents drawing air through the shut down cupola and prevents anybackflow of hot gases into the shutdown cupola.

By its cylindrical shape, the quencher allows entry of inlet ducts fromseveral angles, having regard to two or more cupolas in the midst ofwhich it is placed. This is important because the location ofthe-quencher will be controlled by the floor space below and the spacingof the cupolas. Such cylindrical shape allows for greater strength, lesscarbon steel stiffeners and a significant savings in fabricationmaterial, such as stainless steel.

It is another important object of the present invention to provide animproved gas scrubbing system that can serve two or more hot gassources, such as two or more cupolas in a foundry furnace.

. A further important object of the present invention is to provide aquencher that can effectively quench a hot particle-laden gas streamwhile acting as a low energy scrubber.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide aquencher that can function with two or more gas sources by providing awater seal damper to one source and as a low energy scrubber to theother source.

A still further important object of the present invention is to providea quencher that is externally shaped and internally formed so that itcan be built sturdily but extremely inexpensively and so that it can belocated with a high degree of flexibility in a system and with respectto multiple sources of hot dirty gases and so that it can effectivelyquench and scrub hot particle-laden gases from one source whileproviding a water seal damper for another source.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view ofthe gas quencherscrubber apparatus of the present invention togetherwith other gas cleaning apparatus connected to a twin cupola foundryfumace.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top view of the quencher with some internalstructure shown in broken lines.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the quencher and cupolas shown inFIG. 3 with some internal structure shown in broken lines.

FIG. 5 is generally an elevan'onal view of the quencher, partly insection and cut away, showing the operation of the apparatus with thefirst of the two cupolas non-functioning.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the operation of theapparatus with the second of the two cupolas in non-functioningcondition.

FIG. 7 is a diagramatic view of the preferred form of waterrecirculation system of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularlyto the accompanying drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, thepreferred embodiment of the invention includes the preferred form of thequencher-scrubbing apparatus 32 of this invention connected, on theright, to two furnace cupolas 20 and 22 (cupolas 22 being behind cupola20 and, on the other side, to additional gas cleaning apparatusincluding a high energy scrubber 56, a mist eliminator S8, and a chimney14. The hot particle-laden gasesemitted from the furnaces 20, 22 locatedin the foundry 12 are quenched and scrubbed by the air cleaning systembefore being passed out chimney 14 under the draft of a fan unit 16having a drive motor 18.

The standard vertical cupolas 20, 22 are provided with top cylindricalextension caps 24, 26 having hinged doors 28, 30. The caps permit thequencher to be connected to the cupolas and provide a top bypass door incase an emergency condition results.

The cupolas are connected to the quencher 32 by short ducts 34 and 36,which are preferrably refractory lined. The quencher 32, which is shownmore particularly in FIGS. 3-6 and which will be more specificallydescribed hereinafter, is preferrably of a cylindrical or roundgeometrical shape and, in the illustrated instance of the twin'cupolas20 and 22, the circular side wall of the quencher body is provided witha pair of angularly spaced apart, radial inlet openings 38 and 40, asshown in FIG. 4. The inlet openings 38, 40 are adjacent the top of theside wall of the quencher. Annular collars 42, 44 radially project fromthe side of the quencher around the inlet openings 38, 40 and receivethe outer ends of the cupola connecting ducts 34 and 36. As shown inFIG. 3, the short ducts 34, 36 are connected to and extend from thecylindrical caps 24, 26 of the cupolas and have suitable joiningsurfaces 48, which may be of an expansion character.

As can be appreciated from a consideration of FIGS. 2 and 3, thequencher 32 may be positioned between the cupolas and very close to thetop caps 24, 26.

A gas outlet opening 50 is located in the side wall of the quencher asshown best in FIG. 4. Opening 50 is positioned angularly away from thetwo inlet openings 38, 40 and the height of opening 50 is generally inthe upper portion of quencher 32 but slightly below the height of theinlet openings 38, 40. This is to prevent water from flowing into theinlet openings and then into the cupolas.

. A fitting collar 52 projects from outlet 50 for connection to aconduit 54, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. Conduit 54 connects the quencher32 to a flooded disc scrubber 56 and hence to a mist eliminator 58. Asimilar conduit 60 connects the mist eliminator 58 to the intake side ofthe fan 16 which has its output side connected by a duct 62 to the lowerend of the chimney 14, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 3-6, the quencher 32 is aclosed container preferrably of a cylindrical configuration, withangularly spaced-apart inlet openings 38, 40 and an outlet opening 50,all located generally near the top of the container in the side wall.The diameter of the inlet openings are preferrably the same size andpreferrably larger than the diameter of the outlet opening 50.

The bottom 66 of the quencher 32 is generally conical in shape until itreaches the apex where it divides and each apex has a valve controldrain 84, 86 which drain water from separate sections created by aninternal baffle 68.

The interior of the quencher may be considered as being divided into twosections 32a and 32b, shown best in FIGS. and 6, by a diametricallydisposedcenter bafi'le 68 which extends upwardly from the bottom 66between the drains 84, 86 to a point about half the height of thequencher and so that its upper edge 70 lies slightly above the bottomlevel of the outlet 50. Baffle 68 extends across the quencher fromopposing sides between the two inlet openings 38, 40.

Two additionalbafi'les72, 74 arelocated within the quencher to furthersegment the interior-The quencher section 32a is partially segmented byverticalbaffle 72 shown in FIGS.-3-6, and, similarly; the'quenchersection 32b is segmented by a similar baffle :74. The baffles 72 and 74descend from the top 75 .of the .quencher to a point'adjacent to andspaced above .the sloping underlying bottom 66, with the lower-edges:76of the baffles defining with the confronting sloping bottom 66restrictive passages 78 for the flowing gas streams. The lower edges 76of the baffles 72, 74 are at the same height above the bottom 66 and aredisposed well below the upper edge 70 of the center dividing baffle 68,as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Bafiles 72, 74 are arranged in divergent,vertical planes with respect to outlet50 and baffle 68, and fan out fromone side edge of the baffle 68. Baffles 72, 74 extend across fromgenerally opposing side walls and form a barrier between each inletopening and the outlet opening as shown in FIG. 3.

Six overhead water spray nozzles 80, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, arelocated within and adjacent to the top of the quencher and are connectedto pipes 82 that pass vertically through the top 75 of the quencher fromexterior headers shown diagramatically in FIG. 7. Two nozzles arelocated between each baifle and its respective inlet opening 38, 40 anda pair of nozzles are located on either side of the center baffle 68.The spray nozzles are located within the quencher to direct water intothe gas streams and against the baffles to prevent caking of particleson the baffles. Spraying water under pressure into the incoming dirtygases atomizes the water and saturate the gas causing the largerentrained particles to become thoroughly wetted, held in the waterdroplets and then separated out of the gas stream to fall into the waterrunning down the insides of the quencher and baffles. The water thenpasses out the valve controlled drains 84, 86 to the separation tank andrecirculation system. Additional spray nozzles 80 may be provided in thequencher if desired. The water is continuously sprayed into the quencherwhile either or both cupolas are in operation and hot gases are passingthrough the quencher.

The preferred form of the apparatus of this invention operatessubstantially as follows.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 and 6, it is assumed that the left hand cupola22 of FIG. 3 is shut down with the top 28 open for normal relining orsimilar purposes while cupola 20 is in operation. Drain 86 for thequencher section 32b is closed. Spray nozzles in sections 32a and 3212are operated continuously for two reasons: (I) to fill'and maintain thesection 32b with a body 88 (FIG. 5) of water that serves as a water sealdamper for the non-functioning cupola 22, and (2) to quench hotparticle-laden gases in section 32a. The water is allowed to rise to thelevel of the outlet 50, as shown in FIG. 5, so that at such height ithas an 8-inch head above the bottom edge 76 of the baffle 74 and alloverflow water from the filled chamber will pass through conduit 54,FIG. 2. The overflow water keeps conduit 54 rinsed and it providesadditional water to the high energy scrubber 56. The body 88 of watereffectively prevents the fan 16 from pulling air from thenon-functioning cupola 22 into the quencher through the connecting duct36 and prevents a back flow of gas from cupola 20.

As the gas stream from cupola 20 flows into quencher section 32a, drain84 is open and water from nozzles 80 spray into the gas stream asindicated by the arrows S in FIG. 5. These gases are very hot, in thetemperature range of 1,400 to 1,600 B, when they enter the quencher. Thewater sprays immediately begin to lower its temperature as the gas isfirst deflected downwardly to pass beneath the baffle 72, and throughthe restrictive passage 78 and then turned upwardly to the outlet 50.The passageway 78 causes the gas stream to decelerate momentarily andsome turbulence and an area of reduced pressure occurs mixing the waterintimately with the gas stream. The gases are saturated with water fromthe spray nozzles 80 located on both sides of the baffle 72. Theseactions, together with the abrupt change in direction, cause the largerparticles to separate out of the gas stream and be carried away with thespray water out through the open drain 84. The gases exhausting throughthe common outlet 50 pass through the conduit 54, as shown in FIG. 1, tothe flooded disc scrubber 56 for separation of most of the remainingparticles, then to the mist eliminator 58 and then out the chimney 14under the draft of the fan 16.

When the cupola 20 is to be shut down and the cupola 22 is to beoperated as illustrated in FIG. 6, the body 88 of water is drained fromthe quencher section 32b by opening the drain 86. Drain 84 is closed andsimilar water body 88a is built up in the quencher section 32a, as shownin FIG. 6, so as to seal off the nonfunctioning cupola 20. The hot dirtygases from the functioning cupola 22 then flow into and through thequencher section 32b and are acted thereon in such section in the sameway as described above with regard to the hot dirty gases flowingthrough the quencher section 32a. As can be appreciated from FIGS. 1, 2and 7, the dirty gas stream S enters the section 32b and, after beingquenched and scrubbed, exits through the common outlet 50 and thenfollows the same route through the scrubber system to the chimney 14.

The preferred form of the recirculation system is shown in FIG. 7. Waterdrained from valve controlled drains 84, 86 located in the bottom of thequencher 32, is carried by conduit 90 to a settling or separation tank92 where the heavier particulate matter falls to the bottom, isprogressively drained away through drain 94 and disposed of. Afloat-valve 96 monitors the level of the water in tank 92 permittingintroduction of additional water when required. Water for recirculationis drawn off through conduit 98 and is returned to the headers 99 on topof the quencher 32 by pump 102 and conduit 103. Water is alsorecirculated to the flooded disc scrubber 56 by conduit 110 and pump 100while the scrubber water is returned to the settling tank 92 throughconduit 112 from the mist-eliminator 58. If necessary, the chemicalnature of the water may be continuously monitored and chemicals added tomaintain the pH at the desired level.

The apparatus of this invention will collect about 50 percent of theparticulate matter moving in the gas stream of about 60 f.p.s. and lowerthe temperature of the gas from 1,400F to a range of 200F to 400F. asthe gas leaves the outlet opening. The performance of the quencherconnected with the flooded disc scrubber system is increased to removeabout to 99 percent of the total particulate matter in the gas stream.

' While the preferred form of the apparatus of this invention has beendescribed herein, it should be understood that modifications can be madein the form shown without departing from the invention as defined in theclaims.

I claim:

l. A quencher-scrubber for at least two separate sources of hotparticle-laden gas comprising a vertically oriented hollow cylindricalbody'having a top wall and a floor, at least two inlets provided"therein above the floor, one for each source of hot dirty gas, and acommon outlet, a dividing baffle upstanding from the floor and dividingthe body into two sections, one for each inlet, said dividing bafflebeing normal to the outlet and having an upper end terminating above thelower level thereof, a baffle in each section depending from the topwall and having a lower end extending below the top of the dividingbaffle and spaced above the floor to define therewith a flow passage forgases entering the inlet for the section, each of said sections having acontrolled drain provided in the floor on opposite sides of the dividingbafile and means for washing the baffles and the gas streams with sprayliquid in each of said sections, said last means, when the drain of onesection is closed off and the associated gas source is in anon-functioning condition; building up a body of water in said onesection to a level above the lower end of the baffle therein and belowthe upper end of the dividing baffle so as to provide a water seal insaid one section for sealing off the inlet therein and said last meansoperating with the drain of the other section open and such sectionbeing in operation with its gas source so that the gases entering theinlet of the other section are quenched by the water spray and particlesare separated out therefrom to flow with the spray water out through theopen drain.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein said last means including overheadwater spray nozzles depending from the top of the quencher.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said floor is conical and thedividing bafi'le is diametrically disposed in the quencher at the centerapex of the floor and the drains are provided in the apex of the floorfor each section on opposite sides of the dividing baffle.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said quencher is cylindrical inhorizontal cross-section and the inlets are formed therein in angularlyspaced apart relation.

5. A quencherscrubber apparatus for at least two sources of hot,particle-laden gas, the apparatus comprising:

wall means including a top wall, side walls and a generally conicalbottom defining a closed container having at least two spaced-apartinlet openings and an outlet opening all located in die upper portion ofsaid side walls of the container; a pair of valve control drains at thelower end of said conical bottom;

first and second conduits connecting each of the inlet openings to asource of hot, particle-laden gas; a third conduit connected to theoutlet opening;

a pair of ceiling baffles located within the container extending acrossthe side walls between each inlet opening and the outlet opening, saidbaffles extending downwardly from the top wall to a point adjacent saidbottom of the container and below the lower edge of the outlet openingto therein block direct flow of gas between the inlet openings and theoutlet opening;

a bottom baffle within the container extending across the side wallsfrom a point intermediate the two inlet openings to the proximity of theoutlet opening to generally divide the container into first and secondtreatment sections, said baffle extending upwardly from said bottom ofthe container between the said pair of drains to a point adjacent thelower edge of the outlet opening and above the lower edges of theceiling baffles;

a plurality of spray nozzles within said treatment sections thecontainer to direct liquid under pressure into the gas streams as thegas flows from the inlet openings, under the said pair of ceilingbaffles, then over the said bottom baffle and out the outlet opening,said liquid containing a portion of the particle matter formerly in theair stream passing out the drains, whereby when the flow of gas betweenone inlet opening and the outlet opening is cut off, the drain for thattreatment section is closed causing water from the spray nozzles toaccumulate above the bottom edge of the ceiling baffle before flowingout the outlet opening thereby sealing; the said treatment section.

6. The invention of claim wherein said quencher is cylindrical inhorizontal cross-section and the inlets are formed therein in angularlyspaced apart relation.

7. A hot gas quenching-scrubbing system for use with at least twofoundry furnace cupolas or the like several sources of hotparticle-laden gases comprising a vertically oriented gasquencher-scrubber that is positioned intermediate and in proximity tothe two cupolas, said quencher-scrubber having inlets for hot gasesdischarged from the cupolas, ducts connecting the cupolas to the inletsof the quencher-scrubber, said quencher-scrubber having an outlet commonto the two inlets, conduit means connected to the outlet, at least amist eliminator connected in series in the conduit means, an exhaustmeans, a fan means associated with the exhaust means for creating adraft to move the gas stream through the quencher-scrubber and onthrough the conduit means to the exhaust means, said quencherscrubberhaving a floor, a dividing baffle upstanding from the floor and dividingthe quencher-scrubber into two internal sections, one for each of saidinlets and their associated cupola, said quencher-scrubber having a topwall, a battle for each section depending from the top wall and disposedvertically in each section in confronting relation with the inlettherefor and beneath which the gas stream flowing through each sectionfrom the associated inlet passes, said dividing baffle having an upperend terminating above the level of the outlet, said baffles in thequencher section having lower ends terminating below the upper end ofthe dividing baffle and spaced from the floor, each of said sectionshaving a controlled drain provided in the floor, and means in thequencher-scrubber sections for washing the baffles and the gas streamswith quenching spray water, said last means, when the drain of onesection is closed off and the cupola associated with said section is ina non-functioning condition, building up a body of water in said onesection to a level above the lower end of the baffle therein and belowthe upper end of the dividing baffle so as to provide a water seal insaid section for the non-functioning cupola and said last meansoperating with the drain of the other section open and such section andits cupola being in operation to quench the gas stream entering saidsection and to separate out particles from the gas stream before saidstream passes through the outlet and through the conduit means to theexhaust means.

1. A quencher-scrubber for at least two separate sources of hotparticle-laden gas comprising a vertically oriented hollow cylindRicalbody having a top wall and a floor, at least two inlets provided thereinabove the floor, one for each source of hot dirty gas, and a commonoutlet, a dividing baffle upstanding from the floor and dividing thebody into two sections, one for each inlet, said dividing baffle beingnormal to the outlet and having an upper end terminating above the lowerlevel thereof, a baffle in each section depending from the top wall andhaving a lower end extending below the top of the dividing baffle andspaced above the floor to define therewith a flow passage for gasesentering the inlet for the section, each of said sections having acontrolled drain provided in the floor on opposite sides of the dividingbaffle and means for washing the baffles and the gas streams with sprayliquid in each of said sections, said last means, when the drain of onesection is closed off and the associated gas source is in anon-functioning condition; building up a body of water in said onesection to a level above the lower end of the baffle therein and belowthe upper end of the dividing baffle so as to provide a water seal insaid one section for sealing off the inlet therein and said last meansoperating with the drain of the other section open and such sectionbeing in operation with its gas source so that the gases entering theinlet of the other section are quenched by the water spray and particlesare separated out therefrom to flow with the spray water out through theopen drain.
 2. The invention of claim 1, wherein said last meansincluding overhead water spray nozzles depending from the top of thequencher.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said floor is conical andthe dividing baffle is diametrically disposed in the quencher at thecenter apex of the floor and the drains are provided in the apex of thefloor for each section on opposite sides of the dividing baffle.
 4. Theinvention of claim 1 wherein said quencher is cylindrical in horizontalcross-section and the inlets are formed therein in angularly spacedapart relation.
 5. A quencher-scrubber apparatus for at least twosources of hot, particle-laden gas, the apparatus comprising: wall meansincluding a top wall, side walls and a generally conical bottom defininga closed container having at least two spaced-apart inlet openings andan outlet opening all located in the upper portion of said side walls ofthe container; a pair of valve control drains at the lower end of saidconical bottom; first and second conduits connecting each of the inletopenings to a source of hot, particle-laden gas; a third conduitconnected to the outlet opening; a pair of ceiling baffles locatedwithin the container extending across the side walls between each inletopening and the outlet opening, said baffles extending downwardly fromthe top wall to a point adjacent said bottom of the container and belowthe lower edge of the outlet opening to therein block direct flow of gasbetween the inlet openings and the outlet opening; a bottom bafflewithin the container extending across the side walls from a pointintermediate the two inlet openings to the proximity of the outletopening to generally divide the container into first and secondtreatment sections, said baffle extending upwardly from said bottom ofthe container between the said pair of drains to a point adjacent thelower edge of the outlet opening and above the lower edges of theceiling baffles; a plurality of spray nozzles within said treatmentsections the container to direct liquid under pressure into the gasstreams as the gas flows from the inlet openings, under the said pair ofceiling baffles, then over the said bottom baffle and out the outletopening, said liquid containing a portion of the particle matterformerly in the air stream passing out the drains, whereby when the flowof gas between one inlet opening and the outlet opening is cut off, thedrain for that treatment section is closed causing water from the spraynozzles to accumulate above the boTtom edge of the ceiling baffle beforeflowing out the outlet opening thereby sealing the said treatmentsection.
 6. The invention of claim 5 wherein said quencher iscylindrical in horizontal cross-section and the inlets are formedtherein in angularly spaced apart relation.
 7. A hot gasquenching-scrubbing system for use with at least two foundry furnacecupolas or the like several sources of hot particle-laden gasescomprising a vertically oriented gas quencher-scrubber that ispositioned intermediate and in proximity to the two cupolas, saidquencher-scrubber having inlets for hot gases discharged from thecupolas, ducts connecting the cupolas to the inlets of thequencher-scrubber, said quencher-scrubber having an outlet common to thetwo inlets, conduit means connected to the outlet, at least a misteliminator connected in series in the conduit means, an exhaust means, afan means associated with the exhaust means for creating a draft to movethe gas stream through the quencher-scrubber and on through the conduitmeans to the exhaust means, said quencher-scrubber having a floor, adividing baffle upstanding from the floor and dividing thequencher-scrubber into two internal sections, one for each of saidinlets and their associated cupola, said quencher-scrubber having a topwall, a baffle for each section depending from the top wall and disposedvertically in each section in confronting relation with the inlettherefor and beneath which the gas stream flowing through each sectionfrom the associated inlet passes, said dividing baffle having an upperend terminating above the level of the outlet, said baffles in thequencher section having lower ends terminating below the upper end ofthe dividing baffle and spaced from the floor, each of said sectionshaving a controlled drain provided in the floor, and means in thequencher-scrubber sections for washing the baffles and the gas streamswith quenching spray water, said last means, when the drain of onesection is closed off and the cupola associated with said section is ina non-functioning condition, building up a body of water in said onesection to a level above the lower end of the baffle therein and belowthe upper end of the dividing baffle so as to provide a water seal insaid section for the non-functioning cupola and said last meansoperating with the drain of the other section open and such section andits cupola being in operation to quench the gas stream entering saidsection and to separate out particles from the gas stream before saidstream passes through the outlet and through the conduit means to theexhaust means.